EC clean chit to Hooda govt on Vadra land deal; Cong, BJP spar

The Election Commission on Wednesday night ruled that there appears to be no violation of the model code of conduct by Haryana government in clearing the land deal between Robert Vadra and real estate major DLF.

A day after the election commission stated that there was no violation of model code of conduct by the Haryana government in clearing the land deal involving Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra, the Congress and the BJP on Thursday continued to spar on the issue.

The commission in its two-page order on Wednesday night said: “...there does not seem to be any violation of the model code of conduct by the government of Haryana in the above matter after the coming into force of the model code of conduct from September 12….”

On Thursday, the Congress sought an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for repeatedly making “false allegations”, and the BJP hit back claiming the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government did not present full facts of the case before the poll panel.

“BJP has egg on its face after the EC’s order. Narendra Modi, being the Prime Minister of the country, gave a very irresponsible statement and made allegations against the CM. Will the PM now seek an apology from the CM and people of Haryana,” Congress spokesman Anand Sharma said.

At an election rally in Haryana recently, Modi asked the poll body to take cognizance and appropriate action against the Congress government for legitimising the Vadra land deal despite the model code of conduct being in place. “They know after the results he won’t be given anything,” he said.

The BJP, in an attempt to keep the issue alive till the polls, also accused the Haryana government of not placing all records before the poll panel.

“Why did the Haryana government not submit the July 16 order of Gurgaon deputy commissioner, confirming that the land had been transferred by Vadra owned M/s Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd to M/s DLF Universal Ltd?” asked law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.